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STILL more tears have fallen in Manhattan's Federal Court in the
Harry Potter case, but this time it was the fan-turned-author
accused of plagiarism who broke down in the witness box.

Steven Vander Ark, an unemployed school librarian and creator of
the Harry Potter Lexicon, was tearful and unable to speak on
Tuesday when asked if he thought he was part of the "Harry Potter
community".

"I did," Mr Vander Ark replied, before revealing that he had
been vilified by Potter fans.

The British author J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros are trying to
prevent the publication of an encyclopedia written by Mr Vander
Ark, which they say plunders her work.

Mr Vander Ark, 50, who said he wanted Rowling's respect, was
briefly unable to continue with his evidence. "It's been difficult
because there's been a lot of criticism. Obviously that was never
the intention, but, and I understand where that comes from, but
it's been very, very difficult," Mr Vander Ark said eventually,
between gasps and sniffles.

On Monday Rowling became emotional when discussing how upset she
was at seeing her life's work gutted for the encyclopedia.

Mr Vander Ark said his Potter involvement had been an important
part of his life for the past nine years. He had only wanted to
celebrate Rowling's achievement.

Earlier, Mr Vander Ark appeared pleased to learn that Rowling
had found fault with his analysis of the origins of some of her
language. Told a term he thought was derived from a Hawaiian
greeting was in fact from a West African language, he asked "Which
dialect? That's very exciting stuff for someone like
me."

Despite Mr Vander Ark's admiration for Rowling, a spokeswoman
for the author said the problem remained that the proposed
encyclopedia took too much of her work and offered virtually no
original commentary.

"A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of
plagiarism," the spokeswoman said. "Authors have a duty to prevent
the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing
original, creative or interpretive."